The Brawler
by Kiel Hyre
Summary: Naruto has always been reckless; a brawler. But what if he had common sense to go with that? Find out. Rated M for language/Violence.
1. Calm Before the Storm

Author: Kiel Hyre

Description: Naruto has always been reckless; a brawler. But what if he had common sense to go with that? Find out.

Pairings: None until post time-skip.

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Sam I Am, I will not anger lawyers from Japan!

* * *

Naruto didn't want to be smart; he never tried to be. He was going to be a Ninja and fight for the Hokage, and some day take over as Hokage himself. These were the facts, so where was problem?

The problem was yelling at him.

"Dammit Naruto, you can't expect to become a ninja if you can't pass these tests! Even common knowledge continues to evade you! I guarantee the Hokage knows all of this like the back of his hand; how can you ever expect to take his place if you can't say the same?" Iruka stared hard at him, anticipating the boy's next move.

Naruto delivered in his usual defiant tone, "Teacher, I'll burn that bridge when I come to it! When I become a Ninja I'll be a soldier! If not that, I'll be an assassin, interrogator or some other profession, all of which save interrogation give me a chance at becoming Hokage!"

Iruka blinked as the boy continued his rant,

"If when I become Hokage, I need to know that the Shodaime's granddaughter is the sannin Tsunade or that he kicked Uchiha Madara's ass, I'll learn it!"

Out of breath, the boy sat back down in his seat, and continued reading the history book he had been given as if their confrontation had never happened. Iruka knew the boy couldn't stay angry at him long; he didn't have it in him. This had been proven every time he was kept after class for supplementary lessons.

Iruka sat back down as well, having stood at his desk to help get a point across. He knew that Naruto learned everything he taught him, it was obvious. The little prankster just didn't apply it. He knew this because ever since he taught him how to read, Naruto had read almost anything he could even if he didn't understand it.

Naruto knew Iruka was aware of this, but simply had no desire to use any knowledge he got for anything but pummeling something. Later, he would use it for administration. There was a large and fine line between the two; he was bound to forget this stuff while in active service anyway! Well, some of it anyway, battle technician he was not, but he knew when something was useful.

Since he spent most of his time out of school with Iruka anyway, he would catch up on his work while his 'older brother' graded the work from today's lessons. He didn't often go off on a tangent like he did today, but he usually made sense when he did. Iruka had rarely corrected him on any of them, instead nodding, shrugging, and continuing to work. He took that as a good sign.

"Naruto," Iruka stated off-handedly, "It's nearly five, use the training grounds if you like. I'll pick you up at six for dinner before I head home. You still need to get the clone technique down."

The boy nodded and closed his book before putting taking it over to the shelf and setting it down. He gave a small wave before he left the room, heading for the school's training grounds. Behind him, Iruka was trying to make sense of Shikamaru's test sheet.

"Who the hell writes their answers in base four? I'm not taking the time to solve this."

The telltale sound of Iruka stamping an 'illegible' on another of the lazy boy's homework sheets was the last thing Naruto heard as he stepped out of hearing distance.

--

Naruto took his blunt kunai and shuriken, sold to him at 'premium' prices, and placed them on a post. His last attempt at the clone technique got him a nasty cut. Neither he nor Iruka understood how, and didn't bother to figure it out; all he needed to do was take them off and the problem was solved.

Focusing his chakra into the handseal he had made, Naruto evenly said his technique and was rewarded with two poofs next to him.

Cough! Hack!

The result was subpar yet again. Iruka said he was putting too much chakra into the technique, so Naruto was practicing hard to limit how much chakra he used. Lately, he would create the standard two clones to start with, and then create upwards of thirty and work his way down. The clones were no longer on the ground writhing in pain, but instead appeared terminally ill.

It was a huge step up. It could have been bigger but Iruka told him straight out that regular clones were needed, rather than water, or earth ones. Not that Iruka knew either, he had gone straight from rookie genin to chunin instructor.

Naruto had been amazed at how Iruka had managed to become chunin, even making second place in the final exam by spamming the replacement technique and simply tripping his opponents. Most of his opponents had been so humiliated they had forfeit. At one point he had even replaced himself with the examiner!

To do such a thing to a jounin, or even using it nonstop without fainting took so much chakra control that even imagining being able to do it made his head spin. But then, Iruka had told him when someone was relaxed, switching with them was easier than using it normally. Naruto took his word on that, the smaller the object the harder it was to switch after all. It was the same with the transformation technique for that matter.

He continued creating, and failing to create clones until Iruka came for him. The scarred chunin led him out of the school grounds, locking the building behind him. They walked towards a nearby restaurant in comfortable silence.

It wasn't until they were seated that Iruka spoke,

"Thought we'd have something different today," he said, "This Akamichi restaurant has been calling out to me for a while. Mizuki said it was good."

Naruto shrugged. He preferred ramen but would generally eat anything that was cooked; and some things that weren't.

Ordering their respective dinners, single rib with salad for Iruka, and exactly fifteen dollars in appetizers, including tax, for Naruto, the two settled down for what they hoped was a good meal. It was naturally inexpensive, since it was an Akamichi restaurant, but tastes differ.

"Any luck with the clones today?" Iruka asked, idly rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"Some, I can now make fifteen 'healthy' clones, but any less than that and they start getting sick." He blushed slightly at this.

"A four clone improvement. Hopefully you'll make a miracle by the day after tomorrow. You've already failed twice." He sighed at this, "I'd teach you more, but I can't play favorites any more than I am or I'd lose my job."

Their meal arrived on that note, and they both thanked the waiter before digging into their respective meals; Iruka occasionally sneaking something off of one of Naruto's four plates. The boy really did eat too much in spite of the energy he burned, or at least Iruka thought so. But then he thought better of it because of the boy's 'condition', if anything, he would need to eat more.

They ate and paid for their meals with minimal interaction. Naruto only ever suckered him into paying at Ichiraku's, so it was a nice change of pace to not have an empty wallet. He only really 'ate' when he was at the ramen stand anyway, tonight was rather tame in spite of the amount of food he inhaled.

They parted outside the restaurant without saying anything to one another. After all, Naruto would be hyper again the next day, and Iruka would be his crabby self as usual. They enjoyed each other's company without exception, so they didn't need to say goodbye.

Hello would always come after.

* * *

End Chapter 1

A/N: A bit of a calm before the storm, so to speak.


	2. In Which a Puppy Explodes

Author: Kiel Hyre

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this story, no exceptions.

* * *

Naruto awoke the next morning like he always does; kicking and screaming. His nightmares had gotten better lately, but he still has that instinctual 'kick it's ass' mentality when he wakes up. The nightmares came from the villagers, which came from hate, which Naruto never understood. He didn't care to either, but he noticed when he started training as a ninja the mobs had let off him. Seeing the 'demon child' do a replacement technique with the puppy a bystander was holding would do that. It meant he was getting stronger, and mobs avoided strong things.

Boy was that kid surprised! Naruto chuckled to himself at the memory before getting out of bed and heading into the bathroom. Use restroom, shower, brush teeth. He didn't even bother to turn off that confounded alarm clock, seeing as he had a grudging respect for anything that could annoy his neighbors more than him.

He walked into his kitchen and put a pot boiling with water without even putting on some clothes. He didn't because he thought it was funny to see roof hoppers curse when they looked in his window. That one jounin, that snake lady… he couldn't remember her name but she always complained how his package was wasted on him. It wasn't wasted dammit! He just had no interest in girls right now!

He broke that train of thought and went about dressing. Orange 'kill me' suit? Check. Blue sandals that leave achilles heel wide open? Check. Goggles? Check. He was ready for the day! Today, being the day of the exam. He had failed it twice already, but swore there wouldn't be a third.

Grabbing a cup of instant ramen, he put some water into it with a ladle and put a saucer on top. He needed to find his weapons, no matter how crappy they were. Teehee, he had a surprise for Iruka today! He loaded up and went back to his ramen. Quickly, he ate it and drank the broth. He would have had milk, but when he had opened the lid, it mooed at him. Sure-fire sign it was out of date.

--

At school, Iruka was calling of rows. Mizuki was looking bored, and the students looked apprehensive. Iruka paused when he reached the end of the list, kicked his chair rather hard and wrote Naruto as attending. The chair exploding into smoke upon hitting the wall, and Naruto groaned before walking to his seat.

"How good of you to join us Naruto, I would have sat down but I don't believe in such relations." The classed laughed at this, and Naruto blushed hard. All his pranks on Iruka managed to turn against him somehow. It was insulting.

"Today is the genin exam, as you all know. We'll be doing it in this order; Throwing kunai and shuriken, taijutsu, and then the transformation and clone techniques. Follow me out to the training area please." He emphasized his last words by hitting Mizuki with a chalk board eraser. It was his fault for getting drunk the night before. Celebrations come AFTER the exams, not before.

The class followed out even file, with Iruka and Mizuki taking the extremes. It looked kind of like wardens transporting prisoners, and the students felt the part.

--

"Uzumaki, Naruto. Please step up and prepare both your kunai and shuriken please." Iruka wasn't even trying, sounding monotone and watching with a bored expression. Naruto however was practically jumping for joy; this was his chance!

Stepping behind the marker, Naruto gave a foxy grin, "Okay Teach', I'll show you what I got!" is what he said before making a hand seal and molding an alarming amount of chakra very quickly. Iruka raised an eyebrow before he shook his head to pre-empt Mizuki's interrupting, he was curious now.

"Village Hidden in the Leaves' Ultimate Ranged Technique!" Naruto began without shouting like most, "One-thousand blades of death!" quickly grabbing a handful of kunai and shuriken, Naruto released them all and once with a burst of chakra and to their surprise, continued to make throwing motions with his empty hands! Or they should have been empty, but were filled with what seemed to be shadow clones.

The shadow clone kunai and shuriken exploded into smoke upon impact, but that didn't stop Naruto. For five minute he threw them at an insane speed toward the target; and the smoke, gradually adjusting his aim. When it stopped, several of the students held their breath, while others prepared to laugh. Iruka watched impassively.

When the smoke cleared, there was nothing there. On the ground however was a pillar of sawdust. Naruto grinned before dropping to his knees. "So Teach', what'd you think?" he gasped out, quickly catching his breath.

"I think you need to stop hanging around jounin training grounds, who taught you that one?"

"Oh, I ripped it off some dog-masked ANBU." He replied with a shrug while standing up.

Iruka nodded, "Highly effective but highly inefficient, I'll give you half a mark for effort though, and add that to your score. It might even make the difference." The class chuckled at that, and Naruto himself couldn't help but grin wider. Extra credit, hells yeah. With that done, they were ushered to an empty part of the field and were expected to face up against Mizuki. The way Naruto saw it, fighting Iruka wouldn't be fair for the students.

Without the use of ninja art to assist him, poor Naruto did very badly. He was sure he'd failed that part.

Afterwords, they went into the building and were told to wait in class. Slowly but surely, they were called into another room and tested on the three basic techniques. Eventually, even Naruto was called!

--

"Alright Naruto, show me your transformation technique." Iruka began, but quickly added, "But turn into me, okay? No repeats of last time."

Naruto obliged, and turned into a perfect copy, much to Mizuki's surprise. He also did well with the substitution technique, switching with a supplied log with very little smoke. However, on his clone technique…

Hack! Wheeze!

"Naruto, you've gone a little over half and half here. That's very good, but I can't pass you. I'm sorry to say this, but YOU FAIL!" It came out so much like a burn that Naruto thought he'd had the word DAMN seared into his forehead, where his hite ate should have been.

--

After school, Naruto watched as parents picked up their children. They were all very proud of them, and as he watched them leave, he could have sworn he saw Hyuuga Hiashi shrug at him, as if to say 'better luck next time'. He wouldn't doubt it had happened; the man was surprisingly neutral towards him. He then heard someone walking up from behind him. He didn't bother to turn around though; no one would attack him in front of clan heads.

"Naruto," he heard Mizuki's voice, "Hmm, why don't we take a walk? I want to make sure you're alright."

Naruto thought nothing of it, and with a silent nod, he got up and walked towards the street. Mizuki caught up with him easily.

--

"You know he's just watching out for you right?" the silver-haired man said gently, looking at Naruto out of the corner of his eye. The two of them were sitting on Naruto's apartment building watching the sunset.

"Yeah, I know, but it doesn't make it any easier." Naruto whined, at this rate he'd never become Hokage, dammit!

Mizuki seemed to be tossing something around in his head for a moment, "Well, there's another way to pass y-" he was cut off by Naruto's excited voice.

"Another way to pass!? I'll do anything, just name it!" the man hadn't been expecting it to be that easy.

"Well, all you need to do is this –"

As they spoke, the sun went down, and dusk turned to night. The perfect time for the fake test.

--

"Naruto what are you –"

"Transform!"

Thud! The Hokage was out like a light with a grin on his face. Gently placing the old man against the wall, Naruto jumped out the window with the forbidden scroll and dashed off via rooftops to the clearing he had been told of. He shouldn't be able to roof hop as a genin, but it wasn't about control or skill, it was all about sheer amounts of chakra. He had plenty of the stuff.

Landing without sound, Naruto immediately unraveled the scroll and looked at the first technique. "Shadow clone…" he said softly, "I already know a form of that thanks to that ANBU I've been watching." Actually the bastardization he knew wasn't exactly the same, but he didn't know that. The fact the ANBU had been sparring with the 'Green Beast' at the time also eluded him for the moment.

In fact, the very prospect of actually making a clone destroyed that sense of 'I'm gonna get killed.' He had going on since he entered the Hokage tower. Hey, he was just a kid!

--

Two hours later, an exhausted but satisfied Naruto looked at the next skill.

--

Three hours later, after his second skill, he was interrupted by a familiar face.

"Iruka, there you are!" Naruto shouted happily.

"What do you mean, 'here I am'!? Do you know how much trouble you're in!? Half of Konoha is looking for you!"

"Huh? But Mizuki said if I learned a skill from this scroll that you'd pass me." He then grinned, "I learned TWO!"

Iruka took a moment to survey his surroundings. The obvious craters he had missed meant he needed to start paying more attention.

"Mizuki huh… so he set you up to thi?" Iruka casually walked towards Naruto before stiffening and lurching forward, pushing Naruto out of the way!

"Hey what's the big—Iruka!" Naruto watched in horror as a volley of Kunai rammed into his big brother. Not missing a beat, he turned to look at the perpetrator.

"Naruto, hand me the scroll!" Mizuki shouted, completely confusing the hell out of Naruto.

"No Naruto," Iruka said a little too loudly, pulling kunai out of his back, "Don't give it to him even if we die! Remember what I've always taught you!"

Naruto didn't blink when he said, "A confused enemy is a dead one?"

Iruka started to say something but was cut off by Mizuki who was laughing like a mad man.

"Oh! Oh! Classic, the little bastard care bear fancies himself a teacher! Listen up Naruto, I'll give you a real lesson…" the paused for the effect, "The reason why everyone hates you!" he laughed at this, totally insane.

"Mizuki no, it's forbidden!" yelled Iruka, but it fell on deaf ears.

"The reason why twelve years ago, you were fated to torment for all of eternity!"

Naruto gasped and yelled "Why!? Why does everyone hate me!?"

"Because you are the nine-tailed demon fox, Kyuubi! On that day twelve years ago, the Yondaime couldn't defeat the monster, so he sealed it into a child! That child was you!" He was past laughing madly at this point, he was just being an ass hole.

Naruto was stunned at the revelation, surely he couldn't be the demon fox, he didn't have any tails! But his childish logic was stopped when he remembered what Iruka had reminded him about. 'Iruka said it was forbidden, so maybe a half-truth? Yeah, that's it!'

Iruka watched as Naruto appeared to be in shock, and tensed when he heard Mizuki unhitch his giant shuriken. "Well Iruka, since you're going to be a bastard about this, I guess I'll kill you both, starting with the fox!" He prepared to throw the weapon just as Naruto snapped out of his reverie and analyze the situation.

"Take this!" Mizuki yelled, and much to his surprise, a puppy was thrown instead of his shuriken! Iruka face-faulted, and Naruto grinned as the canine exploded, sending the silver-haired man plummeting to the ground!

"What the hell?" Iruka whispered looking at Naruto who held the odd weapon.

"Oh, I had a shadow clone looking around before you came. Mizuki said he was going to meet me here so I wanted to surprise him." He shrugged, "I learned the exploding shadow clone as well, so since you said a confused enemy was a dead one, I guess it did what it thought would fit." Honestly, he didn't know. He had a suspicion he was right… somehow, but he couldn't piece it together.

Meanwhile, Mizuki was bleeding something fierce. His arm was broken and he was blessing his throwing arm; it had saved his life today.

Iruka blinked, chalking it up to a Naruto-ism, before walking over to Mizuki and kicking him in his broken arm. It both set the limb in place and hurt enough to knock the man out. Iruka gave a cocky grin. Damn he was good. He then turned back to Naruto before speaking.

"Naruto, I want you to close your eyes for a moment."

Never one to doubt someone who risked their life to save them, Naruto closed his eyes. Shortly after, he felt his goggles being removed and something being put in its place. He fidgeted at the contact, "Can I open my eyes now?"

"Yes."

Naruto opened his eyes to see Iruka holding his goggles, but without a hite ate. He quickly put two and two together before grinning. Tonight was looking up.

--

In the Hokage's office, Sarutobi smiled gently before deactivating his crystal ball. He made a hand sign, and sighed in relief. Everything would be alright. He pondered about why Naruto had made an exploding puppy. The idea confused and slightly enraged him, but as Iruka had apparently said, a confused enemy is a dead one. Remembering that particular chunin exam, he was inclined to agree.

With a poof, an ANBU appeared in front of the old man, still as the dead in a kneeling position. "How may I serve you, Lord Hokage?"

Sarutobi smiled, "Tenzo, call off the hunting party, everything will be alright. Also; wake up Ibiki, I know how much he enjoys his work and we have a new toy for him."

The ANBU called Tenzo repressed a shudder before nodding his head, "As you wish, my Lord."

--

END CHAPTER 2

A/N: Pay attention and you'll figure out where Naruto got the puppy idea.


	3. Graduation Day

Author: Kiel Hyre

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this story.

--

Naruto sat at his kitchen table without a care in the world. Today's breakfast was a cup of instant ramen and a glass of ice water; he still hadn't replaced his milk. He ate at a leisurely pace, and repressed a grin when he heard a 'thump' sound on the side of his apartment. 'Newbies,' He thought to himself, 'they should know better than to look into people's windows when roof hopping.' He smiles gently at the curses he heard outside, it seems this one had managed to stick to the wall instead of falling to the ground.

--

Tenten cursed to herself as she regained her bearings. Did she really just see that? No, it must have been her imagination. No one her age could… could they? Shaking her head, she dashed up the wall she had desperately clung to and onto the roof of the apartment building before continuing her run. Gai really needed to loosen up this training regimens, it was starting to get to her head.

--

Naruto finished buckling his pouches to his legs and shoulders, before double checking everything. Nodding to himself, he opened his apartment door and shut it behind him, he was looking forward to finding out who his Jounin instructor would be. Maybe that pretty red-eyed lady? He didn't think himself a lecher but he wouldn't mind an instructor that was pleasing to the eyes.

He jumped down the stairwell to the first floor of the apartment building, landing directly in front of another tenant who had been taking his laundry to be washed. Not bothering to help the man when he yelped and dropped his clothes, Naruto leaped out an open window and dashed down the street. He did a u-turn at the end of the street and picked up additional speed; that wasn't the way to the academy.

--

Arriving at his class, Naruto found himself only minutes ahead of Iruka. Most everyone else was sure to be there already! He sighed at the missed chance of a prank or two and opened the door, walking to his seat beside Sasuke as if nothing were the matter.

It took a moment for Kiba to realize Naruto had entered the graduating classroom, "Hey knucklehead, you didn't pass! What do you think you're doing here!?" He really was curious; Naruto shouldn't have even known which class to enter, let alone what time to be there.

"Eh? Check it out," Naruto replied, turning to face the boy and tapping his hite ate, "I got lucky last night and managed to pass on some extra credit."

"It still won't help you much," Sasuke piped in from beside him, "Once a loser, always a loser."

Before Naruto could reply, there came a horrible rapping from the classroom door, a terrible sound that chilled the hearts of all who heard it. Everyone paused, breath caught in their throats.

"I got here first!" yelled a voice as the door burst open, most likely broken. Everyone relaxed when they saw Sakura and Ino; for a moment there it seemed a demon had snuck on campus.

Sasuke tensed when instead of arguing, the two girls placed their hawk-like eyes on him. He unconsciously tried to make himself less noticeable, but the action was interpreted differently than he would have hoped for the two girls gasped in unison and rushed over to where Naruto sat next to him, also attempting to go unnoticed.

"Naruto, move away from Sasuke!" Sakura shouted, being mimed shortly after by a less-polite Ino. "You're annoying him! Let me sit there!"

Naruto on the other hand had already replaced himself with a shadow clone and was hiding under a blushing Hinata's desk. He really felt sorry for the pale-eyed girl, she had it bad for him. He tried to tell her he could never go with her, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. She had that 'if you say something bad to me you'll tear my soul in two' look down pat, and he did want to be her friend.

He made a shushing motion and crawled out from under her desk, before taking the seat next to her. He wondered how long it would take Sakura and Ino to notice what he'd done.

--

Hinata never was afraid of mice. In fact, she thought them to be quite cute. So it was because of this when an odd-looking mouse, it had been wearing an orange jacket you see, skittered under he desk she thought nothing of it. As a ninja-in-training she had seen many more unusual things after all, like her friend Shino's destruction bugs. No, what shocked her was when the mouse suddenly turned into Naruto, without hardly any smoke to have registered the change. She only knew of Iruka and Naruto having ever been done this; so she didn't doubt it was him.

"Umm…." She began, before another small poof happened, and more almost unnoticable wisps of smoke appeared around her idol. She glanced over to where Naruto had been sitting next to Sasuke and did a double take. She felt like fainting, but that would be unbecoming of her, so she merely blushed instead. "Uh, Naruto?" she caught his attention easily, and he made a shushing motion, before crawling by her legs and climbing onto the empty seat next to her.

It was all quite confusing to her.

--

"Yes Hinata?" Naruto said, leaning back in his seat. Shikamaru picked up on his voice and angled his head to look at him. He raised an eyebrow before turning his head back to better rest. Such things were too troublesome to question.

He watched the Hyuuga swallow a lump in her throat before speaking, "Erm, uh, how and why did you just do that?" It was the closest thing to annoyance he had ever heard from her. No stuttering either; she was improving!

"Shadow clones and the substitution technique." Was his answer, as if it was obvious. The girl next to him blinked, before turning to look at the two angry girls berating the clone. Silently, she wished he wouldn't do these things to her so often, but also wished he'd do more of them. It was a love-hate relationship.

--

Sakura had had enough of Naruto's insolence! How dare he not let her sit next to her one true love! She raised her hand back and into a fist, but had to quickly bring it down when the door opened. Naruto's clone was sweating bullets, and Sasuke thought he was going to get an ulcer. The two girls were quite friendly and otherwise nice, but they could be such a nuisance sometimes.

Iruka didn't blink at the two Naruto's as he entered the room. He merely flicked a shuriken at the one sitting next to Sasuke and the now-sitting Ino and Sakura, before speaking up.

"Alright everyone settle down!"

POOF! Naruto's shadow clone exploded into smoke and several students looked shocked. Iruka wasn't phased and said as much, "Naruto, I understand you don't like it when Sakura hits you, but please keep your clones to a minimum during team assignments." He stopped by his desk and picked up a clipboard, his back still hurt a bit because of the shuriken he took, but he'd had worse.

"Now, Team 9 has carried over from last year, so I'll be skipping over it this year." He coughed and began to read off the teams. He didn't approve of some of them, but he didn't really have a choice in the matter. Following the rules meant making teams that were destined to fail. At least there was the additional test by the Jounin instructors. "…Team 7, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke," a feminine squeal here, "and Uzumaki Naruto. Team 8, Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuuga Hinata," a masculine whoop here, "and Aburame Shino. Team 10, Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru," a masculine groan here, "and Akimichi Chouji."

"Your Jounin instructors will be arriving shortly. Please wait to be called, and leave in a single-file line."

Iruka sat back in his chair and waited. Not minutes later students began to file out, some looking pleased, others looking annoyed. He cared for his students, he just didn't care about what they thought of each other. If they didn't like their current team arrangement, they could always try again next year.

Almost an hour later, Iruka was asleep at his desk. He should have been at the Hokage's office like he was every other year, but he was allowed to rest this time as the Hokage had something he needed to do.

Naruto was almost asleep himself for that matter. The only thing keeping him up was his rivalry for Sasuke… and Sakura. The girl was quite pretty and he liked watching her in spite of himself. He didn't bother trying to make anything of it though. He wasn't going to date anyone, or hell, even admit to liking anyone until he could safely beat the hell out of most of Konoha's forced in a one-on-one match. He didn't doubt for an instant a Jounin that hated his tenant would kill someone he loved to lower his guard. Crazy people were weird like that.

Sasuke felt a tic coming on, but repressed it. If he couldn't deal with fangirls, how could he ever face his brother? If he remembered correctly, Itachi had twice as many fangirls! Yes, he had to endure, for his clan's sake. Sakura on the other hand just chatted away at him, seemingly oblivious to her crush's plight.

--

"So this is his house? I've seen worse." Kakashi said, and he opened the boy's refrigerator. "On second thought, does this boy get any nutrients at all?" he pulled out the spoiled milk, which had crust around the lid. He stared at it, and could have sworn it stared back.

"Ah, young Naruto doesn't eat much other than ramen unless Iruka or I constantly remind him." Was the Hokage's reply, "He doesn't appear to need much in the way of food because of his tenant anyway. So long as he eats meat every so often he never suffers malnutrition."

"Interesting." Kakashi said, pouring the milk down the drain, and breaking the clumps up with the faucet. "From what you've told me he's not a complete idiot thanks to his teacher, " he tossed the milk carton in the trash, "but he could still use a lot of work. In the end it depends on whether or not they can pass my test."

"Indeed."

--

END


End file.
